Changes
by Vam9ire
Summary: This is my first written fanfiction. I have taken parts of the season finale 3x22 and integrated my vision of how the first episode of Season 4 could be. Starts off w/the Damon Alaric fight. I've included these scenes to adapt my vision of how the story can go.


(At public storage place )

Damon landed on the cold cement floor of the storage unit place, and groaned in pain. He was pretty bloodied up in the face , bruised & sore allover. Alaric had been pummeling Damon with his fists & the back of the deadly stake Esther had created for the vampire-hunter. Damon was surprised he hadn't tried staking him yet, but he was sure he wanted to get back at him for sleeping with his wife Isobel, turning her into a vampire & for killing Alaric twice!

"You're not gonna fight back?"Alaric asked. Damon responded through shallow breaths,"You're kinda invincible, Ric."

Alaric responded with anger 'Don't call me that!" kicking Damon to the left with all his might. The kick lifted Damon a good 3 inches off the floor as he groaned. "We're not friends"Alaric said through gritted teeth at the bleeding Damon.

"We were" Damon grunted.

"Well, our friendship was part of the problem," Alaric growled.

There was that damn word again, Damon thought, anytime he got close to anyone, it was a problem. Elena told him it was a "problem" when he declared he loved her. And now Ric was throwing it in his face, because Damon had reminded him they were friends.

Alaric swallowed hard "It's what kept me weak, it's also why it took so long for the real me to break through..." He leaned down and stared into the beaten Damon's eyes, grumbling, "And now I'm gonna break you!" With that, he right fisted Damon with the stake, knocking Damon back onto the floor.

Damon gasped, breathing heavily, his mind floating to a different time.

(Damon's flashback to his first days in Mystic Falls)

He was laying on the road awaiting some unsuspecting victim to find him & want to help. He would snatch, feed & discard to fill his empty belly with the necessary life sustaining fluid. As he laid on the ground, he heard a voice.

The voice was unmistakeable, and he turned his head towards it. He could see the figure walking alone, talking on a cell phone.

He super-sped to where the figure was, and softly uttered the name "Katherine."

The girl was gazing down at her cell phone, appearing to be in deep thought. She looked up, then behind herself. No one else was there & she responded that she was "Elena".

He didn't know if this girl was actually Katherine, toying with him. He kept looking at her. Her expression didn't change. He frowned & shook his head lightly, still wondering if it was Katherine The girl just stared at him as he walked closer, telling her she reminded him of someone. Convinced this wasn't Katherine, he introduced himself.

She curtly stated she wasn't trying to be rude but it was kinda creepy that he was out there in the middle of nowhere.

He found hilarity in her statement, replying she should talk as she was out there by herself as well.

Her response was, it was Mystic Falls, nothing bad ever happened. He chuckled to himself, if she only knew how much danger she was just being in his presence.

He detected she was a bit uneasy, when she showed him her cell phone & disclosed that she had gotten into a fight with her boyfriend.

He asked her about what. Realizing he may be crossing the line, he apologetically inquired if he was allowed to ask.

She shook her head & devulged her boyfriend had brought up life, their future, which he had "all mapped out".

Damon questioned if that wasn't what she wanted. And she replied that she didn't know what she wanted.

But, he knew and walked towards the girl telling her it wasn't true. She wanted what everyone wanted.

She gave him a flirty smile, asking if he, the mysterious stranger, had all the answers.

He liked this girl, Elena. Responding that he'd been around a long time and had learned a few things.

She flirtatiously kept smiling at him, questioning, if he could tell her what it was she wanted. He saw her eyes danced with excitement as she awaited his response.

He walked closer to her, his blue eyes burned into her brown ones. He told her that what she wanted was a love that consumed her. Passion. Adventure. And a little danger. He heard her heart beat faster, but, it wasn't because she feared him.

He remembered the gaze before she finally asked him, what it was he wanted. Her question had left him speechless. The moment interrupted by the honking of an approaching car. Elena looked away, it was her parents. She looked back at him and he had moved closer, so they were face to face. Still, she did not fear him, she didn't back away.

He looked into her sweet brown eyes and told her he wanted her to get everything she was looking for. He truly meant that. But, for the moment she would have to forget their encounter, he couldn't have people knowing he was in town. He gazed into her eyes, smiled, locking the moment to his memory. She kept looking, smiling, as he compelled her to forget, softly bidding her goodnight. Then he disappeared into the night.

Damon started to get up & grunted to Ric "Is that all you got?" Ric responded by kneeling down next to Damon & lunging the stake towards the center of his chest. Damon stopped it with all his might, or he surely would have been a dead man. He pushed Alaric off with the strongest kick he could manage. Damon was up, landing a punch straight to the left of Alaric's jaw, throwing him off balance. He couldn't kill Ric. He could only try to survive being staked, possibly escaping him. They continued this battle. When Damon started feeling Ric's punches getting softer. Suddenly, Alaric's face became pale as Damon knocked the stake out of his hands.

Alaric grabbed onto Damon's shoulders, looking confused & scared, "what's happening?

Damon's sensed something terribly wrong, his eyes showing the fear he was feeling as he uttered "Oh no."

Ric looked alarmed and stared into Damon's eyes, "what's happening?" grabbing tighter to his friend. Ric fell to his knees as he grunted in pain.

"Ric," Damon cried "no...no, no, no, Ric" he held onto him, as Ric kept writhing in agony. Damon held him against his chest as he witnessed Rics become very still. In disbelief, Damon sobbed, "You're not dead, you're not dead. Damon's heart broke into a million pieces. Ric and Elena were gone. And there was nothing he could do about it. He picked up his friend and placed him ever so gently inside the trunk of his car. His eyes burned with the tears that made their way down his cheeks as he sped towards Mystic Falls to his beloved.

He stood there, in the dark, looking at her lifeless body,awaiting the inevitable.

(Stefan flashes back earlier that night)

He had wanted to save her, to pull her from Matt's submerged pickup when he had found them. But, Elena had refused to let Stefan take her to safety, motioning for Stefan to take an unconscious Matt first. He had pulled Matt out as quickly as he could & dove back into the cold waters of Wickery bridge. Elena no longer was conscious. He pulled her out of the water and laid her next to Matt, doing CPR on both of them as fast as he could. Matt had revived, but Elena wasn't breathing. He pushed down in the center of her chest, doing compressions at a hard and fast rate, but she was still unresponsive.

"Please Elena,"he implored, tears welling in his eyes.

He tilted her head back, lifting her chin. He pinched her nose & breathed into her, looking to see if her chest would rise. He kept giving her two breaths at a time, checking to see if her chest would rise. He checked for a pulse, but there was none. He pulled both Matt & Elena into his car and sped towards the hospital. But, the ER doctor & the nurses knew it was too late. The attending doctor pronounced Elena D.O.A. Matt was semi-conscience, but they kept this information from him, fearing it could have an adverse effect on his healing.

(Present)

Now, Stefan stood there, in the darkness of the morgue, with sorrow in his heart, an unbearable ache in his whole being. She'd be waking up as the creature she had fought so hard from becoming. Elena would have no idea that Dr. Fell, Meredith, had injected Damon's blood into her veins to save her life.

(Back)

Stefan's mind drifted to their arrival to the ER. While the ER doctor & his nurses worked on Elena, Meredith, who was also working the ER had approached him. The look on her face was that of preoccupation. She took Stefan aside and revealed that earlier that day, when Jeremy had arrived with Elena via ambulance. The EMT's had reported to her that Elena had clinically died while enroute. They had performed CPR in the ambulance. It was after she had conducted her examination & ran a CT scan and an MRI on Elena, she had discovered there was a cerebral hemorrhage. She couldn't let Jeremy go through the pain of loosing another loved one. And she didn't want to loose her patient. She had the cure in her secret supply which was Damon's blood. She knew an injection of the life saving fluid would save Elena's life. Later, when she had released her into their hands, she figured in her delicate state, no one would be taking her out of her house. She didn't expect anything to happen to Elena in the safe keeping of all of them. Elena only needed 12 more hours to be out of danger. Meredith kept looking over to the table where Elena laid, she could tell that the doctor was giving up his attempt to revive the patient. She looked back at Stefan and saw the scowl on his face.

Stefan hissed at her, "but this is Mystic Falls...Elena is always in danger, no matter how much we try to protect her." "Why didn't you tell us what you had done?"

Bonnie sat in her room, cursing herself for not knowing another way to save her friends & mother from Klaus. He had won again. Again, they had failed to rid the town of Klaus. Tears of anger welled up in her eyes, but she pushed them away. Her cell phone rang. She looked and saw Stefan's name appear on the face of the phone. She felt an immediate feeling of terror. "Stefan, is everything alright?" Did you find Matt and Elena?

She noted the long pause before Stefan finally responded. "Yes, I found them. Bonnie, Elena and Matt had an accident. Matt's truck went over Wickery bridge." he said slowly "and into the water."

Bonnie's voice trembled, "What! How? Are they alright?"

Stefan inhaled deeply.

"Stefan?" Bonnie implored.

"Matt's in the hospital overnight, he's gonna be alright." he told her.

"And Elena? Bonnie asked with urgency. "What about Elena?"

He exhaled "She..." and paused.

"Stefan, what, she what?"

"She died, Bonnie, she died on Wickery bridge, I tried to save her, but she died!" His voice became pained, "I brought her and Matt to the ER, and they pronounced her dead on arrival. Matt's staying overnight for observation. His voice got soft "I'm in the morgue."

Bonnie started sobbing on the phone.

Stefan then blurted out, "Bonnie, Elena's going to wake up, it's just a matter of time"

Bonnie tried to compose herself and responded "What do you mean she's going to wake up, Stefan? She gasped, "Are you telling me that Elena..."

He cut her short, "Yes, she's transitioning into a vampire." Stefan looked back to where Elena was still laying motionless.

"No, Stefan, no, no, no! " she yelled into the small device,"she can't, she can't! Who did this?" She demanded angrily,"Did Damon do this?"

"No, he.." he started to reply.

She interrupted him, "Does Jeremy know?"

"Yes." he responded softly.

"I have to go!" Bonnie barked at him and hung up the phone.

Stefan heard the click & hung up his cell. He started to think again what Meredith had told him. Suddenly, the image of her face explaining why she had done it disappeared. Elena gasped for air. His eyes darted to where she lay & he saw her eyes pop open in shock.

He moved closer to her. She started to say something. "Da-" she whispered. "Elena," he responded placing his hands on the sides of her face. He lowered his face towards hers so she could see him. His leaf green eyes looked into the depths of her brown eyes. "Elena".

"Stefan...where are we? What happened? Is Matt okay? Why is it so cold & dark in here?"

Bonnie hung up, staying motionless for a moment. Adrenaline shot through her. She needed to find a way to save her friend from becoming this creature. There was no way she would allow Elena to become a vampire. She was still visibly upset about her mother being turned. And at times it was hard to accept the fact that Caroline was one of them. She trusted Caroline and Stefan, but when it came to Damon, she barely tolerated him. Damon, she thought with distaste, always associated to some innocent becoming or dying because of his vampirism. Just thinking about him made her blood boil. She pulled out the grimoires, scanning them quickly for a spell to use with the dark magic she now had access to. She needed to reverse or slow down Elena's transition before she had to take human blood to complete it or die. But, she had to be very careful, her magic was no longer pure or pulled from the earth's nature.

She thought back about what it took for her to do the desiccation spell to trap Klaus. Her mother showed her how to tap into the dark area of witchcraft to use with the grimoires. It was this new darkness that had helped Klaus take possession of Tyler's body, to save himself from sure death. However, in her doing this, she had angered the elders. Witches are suppose to help their own. She was to destroy Klaus, but, instead she saved him. This new knowledge of the darkness, had given her superior power, strength. She just wasn't sure it was without any consequences. She did not fear this, she felt the strongest she had ever felt, and there would be no stopping her.

Matt lay in his hospital bed. He was sore in his throat from having been intubated. While in and out of consciousness, he had overheard the doctor in the ER say they'd be keeping him overnight just as a precautionary observation. He had tube lines attached to his chest & arms to monitor his vitals, bring his temperature back to normal & feed his internal organs with the oxygen he needed to recover. He felt helpless & trapped in the hospital. He wanted to know how Elena was, what room she was in, but Meredith had been very cryptic with her answers. He couldn't stand being in the dark about his friends. All he knew was that Alaric had staked Klaus, rendering him dead and now Tyler was dead too, because of his bloodline to Klaus. The telephone in his room rang and he answered it.

He recognized the sweet voice on the other end. In somewhat of a groggy voice he responded, "Care...yeah I'm doing better, so they say. They wanna keep me overnight. Dr. Fell won't tell me how Elena's doing. There was a brief pause and he asked Caroline, "Do you have any idea what's going on with her?" There was deep desperation in his voice.

Caroline was a mess, losing Tyler and now this was all she could take "I don't know Matt, I can't get a hold of Stefan. Plus the hospital doesn't really disclose any information if your not family.

"Can't you just compel it out of them?" he asked.

"It doesn't work that way Matty, I have to be in close proximity!" she gave a slight giggle.

Matt responded with urgency "Care, you gotta get me out of here!"

She assured Matt she'd get to the hospital as soon as she could.

Damon stormed into the hospital's ER and found Meredith with another doctor.

"Where is she?" he demanded with a growl. Meredith tried to stop him "No Damon,"

"Where is she?" he growled again.

"Wait!" Meredith grabbed at the back of his black leather jacket, pulling him around to face her. "You need to know," looking up at his face, finally making contact with his intense blue eyes. "When Jeremy brought Elena in earlier tonight," she placed her hand on Damon's chest to stop him from moving past her. Continuing her explanation in a breathy voice,"her injuries were worse than I let on...it wasn't a concussion, it was a cerebral hemorrhage, bleeding on the brain.." she gasped.

Damon's face became a frown, "what are you saying?"

Meredith continued "He was so worried, I didn't want to tell him". Her voice trembled "but I ..." She composed herself and continued "She needed my help...I helped her!".

Damon stood there staring at her, in disbelief of the words coming out of her mouth "You did what?"

"Stefan where are we?" Elena demanded as she squinted her eyes & looked around, still not realizing she was in the hospital morgue. "What is this place? Why is it so cold?"

He went to hold her, uttering ever so softly, "You're gonna be alright Elena," his voice cracked a little. "I'll help you..." She felt the coldness of the table she was sitting on, which was steel, there was no mattress, no bedding. It smelled of death. And she saw she was still in her street clothes, which were wet. There was no hospital gown on her and the room was immensely big.

"What do you mean, Stefan? Where are we?"

He couldn't lie to her, "Elena...you died ". "I tried to save you tonight from the waters of Wickery bridge. You and Matt had an accident. Rebecca caused the accident. You and Matt went over the bridge. I found both of you right a way in Matt's submerged pickup. When I tried to pull you from Matt's pickup, you wouldn't let me, you told me to save Matt first. By the time I got to you, you had drowned." His voice was cracking & he sobbed " I tried to revive you Elena, I tried for so long and so hard" he said desperately.

Elena started to breath heavily "Are you saying I died?" her eyes darted all over the room, finally grasping why it was so cold & dark, she was in the hospital morgue. She started hyperventilating. "Stefan we're in the morgue, aren't we? Does that mean I'm a.. Stefan? Am I? "No, I can't be...I can't be!" she screamed as she jumped off the steel table.

Stefan pulled her to him, embracing her, "I'm so sorry, Elena...I didn't want this to happen to you." She screamed through tears. Stefan held her harder, "breathe Elena...breathe, you're gonna be ok, I promise, on my word, you'll be ok."

She shook her head, pulling back & looking into his leaf green eyes, "Who did this to me Stefan? Why? Why did they do it?"

He looked at her. "It was Meredith."

Elena's face went blank, "what?"

"Yes, Meredith gave you the blood. She told me that you were in far worse shape than she had led on to Jeremy when you came in earlier. He looked away, a tear forming at the corner of his eye. "She found a cerebral hemmorhage in your brain," he continued softly, "you would have died." He looked back at her, "She felt bad, Jeremy, would be losing the only immediate family member he had left. That's when she gave you Damon's blood."

She looked at Stefan, "Damon's blood?" "Damon was in on this! After all this time, he knows I never wanted to be a vampire!"

"Wait, Elena, no...Damon has no idea. The blood Meredith gave you is the one she stole from Damon a while ago." Elena looked at Stefan with confusion. He continued to explain "When Meredith found out Damon was a vampire, she caught him off guard while he was visiting the hospital. She vervained him and blood jacked several tubes of blood."

"Why didn't you keep her here where she would 've been safe!"He raised his voice in anger. "Why didn't you tell any of us what you had done?" "Where is she?" he growled louder, anger spewing out of his blue orbs.

"She's safe, Damon. Stefan's with her!" Meredith assured him adding, "they're in the hospital morgue".

He looked at her with disdain "Are you crazy?" "Do you know what effect that can do to her? Waking up in the morgue?"

"Damon, it was the only safe place for her and she's with Stefan!" she responded as he pushed himself away from her explanation, looking intently where he could find the morgue. She grabbed at him again "Damon!" She pulled him around "This way," motioning for him to follow her to the doctors elevator. She inserted her hospital key & pressed LL . She looked at him, "You'll find them there."

The elevators descent felt like ions. When it finally arrived to the lower level, he could hear his brothers voice trying to calm Elena down. She was hyperventilating. He could hear her pacing back and forth, her heart racing. When the doors opened he flew out to find where she was. He saw her, she was angry.

" 'Lena," he said in a breathy voice.

She looked to where he was standing, "Damon?" a tear started rolling down her cheek. Behind her stood Stefan, a desperate look on his face. He shook his head at Damon, Elena wasn't doing well with this news of her coming back to life as a vampire. "Damon...I don't want this...I don't want to be a vampire! She frowned, tears of anger erupting.

Damon went to console her, looking into her brown eyes. "I know." he whispered.

She screamed "I don't want to be a vampire! I don't want this!" She came at him wielding her fists, pounding at his chest. He let her vent out all her anger. After a while, he grabbed her shoulders, restraining her. She slowed her assault, feeling defeated "I don't want" her voice broke off.

Damon looked at her distraught face, which pained him to his soul.

"We know, Elena" Stefan responded for both of them.

She exhaled loudly, crossed her arms in front of herself and turned to walk away from both of them. . The room was beginning to spin. She felt an icy cold seep through to her bones. She started shaking, her teeth chattering uncontrollable & she dropped down on the cold floor. Stefan went to her, kneeling in front, his hands laid softly on each arm. He was trying to read her face, not knowing what else to say to ease her pain. He pulled her close to him and she sobbed. After a while she stopped, she lay her head on Stefan's shoulder and he tightened his hold on her. Damon searched the immense room and found a bed sheet in one of the drawers. He took it and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Elena looked up at him. It was hard to figure if she was sad or angry, her face was a mixture of emotions. "You're gonna be fine, Elena" "Stefan and I won't let anything happen to you." he said in a strong but comforting voice. He moved a stray strand of her hair from her face and wrapped it around her ear.

Stefan looked back at Damon. Damon motioned for Stefan to follow him away from Elena so they could talk. Stefan let go of Elena, kissing her forehead as he got up.

He followed Damon to the edge of the room's elevator entrance.

He muttered to his brother as low as he could "We gotta get her out of here...now."

Stefan looked at his brother "Yeah alright...Wait, what does Meredith say?"

Damon stared at Stefan raising his voice slightly, "I wouldn't care what Dr. Psycho had to say, if she did! She is not the leading authority on vampirism, Stefan, we are!" "Let's just get her home!"

"How? Stefan questioned. "When we arrived the other ER doctor, who attended Elena, along with the nurses, couldn't revive her. He declared her D.O.A. How do you suppose we get her out without bringing any attention that we're taking a dead girl out of the hospital.

Damon looked around & found a disposable mask. "Here, slip this on over her face...and give me your jacket, she can wear that while I wheel her out. Damon looked at the expression on Stefan's face. "Look, if they see you with her, they'll put two & two together" They didn't see me bring in a pair of drowned," Damon paused for a moment and asked "hey, what happened to Matt?"

Stefan responded somberly,"He's fine, they're keeping him overnight for observation".

"Does he know about Elena?" Damon fished.

Stefan shook his head "just Jeremy and Bonnie know."

"Perfect, no need to get everyone else in a tizzy!"

"Damon, they'll need to know soon. Especially Matt, he's gonna be asking about Elena. Stefan frowned. "You, know I'm right."

"Fine," Damon barked rolling his eyes "but first, let's get her out of this horrible place".

He threw his car keys to his brother. Stefan looked at him puzzled, "we're taking your car?"

"Yeah, well, there's this little issue of Ric being in the trunk" he said with his signature smirk.

"What the hell, Damon?" Stefan barked.

"He died in my arms," his eyes saddened as his voice softened, "that's how I knew Elena had died." He looked at his brother, "I couldn't leave him in the storage place...he was my friend. He needs a proper burial. I'll compel the cemetery guys to do it tomorrow."

Meredith was now in Matt's room, checking his vitals. "You're doing a lot better Matt, but I think you should stay till the morning."

He grumbled and looked up at the doctor "How's Elena?"

"She's fine, uh, Stefan and Damon took her home."

"Wow, was I in worse shape than she was?"

"You could say that" Meredith replied not elaborating on Elena's injuries. "I'll check up on you in the morning.".

Looking at the clock on the wall that showed it was 12:05 am, Matt responded with a grin "Isn't it already morning doc?"

"You know what I mean."she smiled "I'll see you later and probably release you at that time."Goodnight!"

Stefan super-sped out of the elevator, as Damon, wheeled Elena out slowly. She lowered her head, letting her hair fall down over her eyes & the mask she was wearing. Damon caught Meredith's eyes and she nodded, acknowledging they were taking Elena.

A nurse started after Damon, "Excuse me, that girl..."

Meredith quickly went over, assuring the nurse everything was fine, the patient had been released. The nurse recognized Elena. "But, she's the girl that di.." She continued to say. Damon quickly caught her eye & compelled her to agree with Meredith that the patient had been released. Elena suddenly began to rustle in the wheelchair, inhaling the air in the ER. There was a strong smell much to the liking of her now magnified senses. There had been a fatal gunshot wound patient on one of the gurneys, that had bledout. No one had had a chance to clean up the bloody mess in that trauma room. Her eyes started veining above her cheeks & her gums started to ache. Realizing the dilemma present, Damon sped out of the ER to Stefan's awaiting car.

"What was that," her mouth watered. Damon placed her in the back seat. Elena resisted, the veiny look still in her eyes. She started crying out because of the fangs trying to emerge from her upper gums.

"Make it stop! Make it stop! Ohhhh!" She screamed from the backseat. "I don't want this! I never have! This can't be happening!" She pounded the leather seat of the Camaro.

She was like a caged animal back there, crawling out of her skin. Stefan & Damon calmed her down & belted her in. Damon nestled himself into the front seat & motioned to Stefan to get them to her house as quickly as possible. Elena shivered in the back seat, still dealing with the fact of what she was becoming. She was wearing Stefan's navy blue hood & wrapped the hospital sheet around herself . Stefan had thrown on the heater, something he and Damon never used.

Before they could pull away, Meredith came running out to the car. "Wait!" she called to them.

Damon rolled down his window and looked at her with disdain. "Haven't you done enough?" He answered sarcastically.

"Look, let me just inject her with this sedative," she showed them the syringe without alerting Elena, "it'll lull her to sleep, while you guys figure out how to help her. The brothers looked at each other, but Elena had heard the conversation. She started to back away in the rear seat when Meredith went to inject her. It took Damon & Stefan to restrain her, but once she got it in her vein, she drifted off into a deep sleep. Meredith looked at them with remorse "I'm sorry, I just wanted to help her." She stepped back from the car and Stefan pulled away. Damon turned to look at Elena, she was resting comfortably.

Looking back at his brother he asked "How did this happen, Stefan?" "You said you pulled them from the water, just how long was she under?"

Stefan, looked at Damon, dreading what he would be telling him, he exhaled heavily, "Bonnie showed me how to track Matt & Elena via Elena's phone. So when Rebekkah called and threatened to kill Elena, I knew where they were. I heard the crash from Rebekahs phone & got over there as soon as I could. I dove into the water & found them. Matt was unconscious, but Elena was alert. I went to pull her out, but she refused, motioning me to take Matt first."

Damon's face filled with anger, "you left her in there, how did you know Matt wasn't already dead from drowning or internal injuries? She was alert Stefan, she was alive, how could you pull her out last?"

"It's what she wanted, Damon."

Damons eyes burned into Stefan's face, "It's what she wanted? Again, why she is never safe with you! You allow her make these stupid choices." He scowled. "And where did it get her? Where she never wanted to be!"

After that, the ride to the Gilbert house had been quiet. Elena had mumbled & cried while under the sedation, but now that they were rolling up to the house, she seemed to be coming around. Obviously, her now transitioning metabolism was making the sedative lose its effectiveness. She opened her eyes, looking up at her house. She saw Jeremy look out from the front window. He came flying out of the house & yanked the passenger door open.

"Give her some space Gilbert," Damon put his hand up against Jeremy's chest.

Jeremy was aware that Elena was in transition. Stefan quickly went around the car & reached in to helped Elena out. Jeremy tried to push past Damon, but he was too strong.

"What's your problem, Damon?"

Damon assured Jeremy, "Not my problem Jeremy, more like our problem!" pointing his chin towards Elena.

"Let's just get her in the house." he demanded as he pushed Jeremy towards the front door.

Stefan helped Elena out, then held onto her as they walked up the path to her house. Elena suddenly got a burst of energy, tore away & tried to go through the front door. She felt the immediate invisible barrier.

Jeremy watched Elena, when Damon finally told him, "Come on Jeremy, get in there and invite Elena in."

Jeremy lingered a little too long for Damon's liking & ordered him to "Invite her in!" He looked over at Stefan and rolled his eyes.

Jeremy moved quickly into the house and asked Elena in. She cautiously put her right foot in. No barrier this time and walked in. Elena gave a sigh of relief as she scanned her home, where she felt safe. She went to hug Jeremy, feeling this immense love for him. She hugged him closer, suddenly being taken aback by the loud, thump-thump, thump-thump of his heart and the distinct smell of human blood that seeped out of her brothers pores. Below her eyes she displayed the veiny marks of her hunger for blood. Her gums ached as she opened her mouth and the fangs began to erupt.

Damon quickly grabbed her "Jeremy, get out of the way, now!" he demanded.

Stefan pulled Elena towards him, "Elena, focus, we're gonna get through this the right way." Her fangs retracted and she realized what she had almost done.

"Oh my god no, Jeremy", she stared at him, "this isn't happening!" She ran up to her bathroom & locked herself in.

Stefan and Damon looked at each other. Damon motioned his brother to go up after Elena. He watched as Stefan flew up the stairs, focusing back his attention on Jeremy.

Jeremy was angry, "Why is she's turning into a vampire? Stefan said something about Meredith giving her your blood. How the hell did this happen, Damon? I thought she was alright when I brought her into the ER. But then Stefan said she drowned." He was rambling on 'How the hell is she becoming a vampire?"

Damon explained everything that had happened since Jeremy had taken Elena in unconscious. And what Meredith had done to "save" Elena. His blood was still in her system when she drowned. That's how she came back.

"So she's becoming a vampire!"

"Keep your voice down, she can hear you, no need to get her more upset than she is!"

"Look Damon, I don't want her here if she's gonna try to attack me!"

"She's your sister...cut her some slack" Damon demanded.

"Fine, she can stay, I'll go!" he yelled, grabbing his backpack and heading out the front door.

"Suit yourself! Don't call us, we'll call you!" he scoffed.

Stefan scanned Elena's room, but found she had locked herself in the bathroom.

He gently rapped on the door. "Elena...he said ever so softly. He sat in front of Elena's bathroom door, coaxing her to come out to talk to him. He could hear her pounding the bathroom sink, questioning herself over and over how could she have almost hurt Jeremy. "Please Elena," he implored "open the door and we'll talk". "I helped Caroline, remember?" For a while it was quiet, then he heard the click of the door lock and Elena slowly opened the door.

"Don't look at me," she growled emerging while covering her face with her hand. She was angry, he could hear it in her voice. She walked out sideways and went towards her bed. She reached for the lamp & turned it off. Stefan's vision allowed him to see her clearly as she crawled onto the bed, pulling the covers over her head.

Stefan walked over and sat on the edge. He spoke softly, "It won't be so bad Elena, I'm here, to help you through this transition and after that."

She snapped back at him, "And just what makes you think I want to transition, Stefan?" This is not something I wanted to be, it's not me! This body is foreign, I don't know who the hell I am! I can't control these damn urges to attack! She was yelling. And what's with all these feelings coming out of nowhere!"

"Elena, it's part of the process, he exhaled, " it's part of being a vampire, your emotions are magnified times a hundred!" He tried to imagine what she looked like under the covers and continued, "you're very caring, kind hearted, selfless, compassionate and one of the strongest people I have ever known. As a vampire you'll flourish, this I'm sure of."

"And what about all these bits & pieces of memories I'm getting? Of things that I don't ever recollect happening?" she asked agitated.

Stefan didn't know how to take what she was saying to him "Bits & pieces of what kind of memories?' He looked at her with confusion.

She didn't tell Stefan, but all the memories had to do with Damon.

From where he was, Damon could hear their conversation. He went up to her room. He saw Stefan sitting on the edge of the bed and Elena all covered up.

"Jeremy left," he interrupted making his presence known.

Elena pulled the blanket off herself, messing up her hair in the process. She still looked beautiful, Damon's heart skipped a beat. The feeling was quickly squashed as he remembered the telephone conversation they'd had a few hours ago. It had stung when she told him that although, she had feelings for him, she'd never fallen out of love with Stefan. That this was the reason she was letting him go. He told her he knew it would "always be Stefan". She said she couldn't think about "always" just about "right now." She said maybe it would've been different had she met him first. "Maybe," he'd echoed. He knew better. Did he regret compelling her to forget when they first met? It was too late now to second guess himself. He 'd have to live with his decision. Just how? First, stop pining for Elena. Learn to coexist forever. He could avoid her and Stefan all together. But, they were the only two people that mattered to him. That kept his humanity. It would be a challenge.

Elena would no longer be human. As a human she would have gone through the normal process of growing old and eventually dying. His love for her, would not. She had been the only woman, besides his mother, that in his entire human & now vampire life, had made him feel some kind of love. With Katherine, he was young and naive. Katherine never loved him, he found that out the hard way. For her Damon was just a diversion, it had "always been Stefan". She had led Damon to believe that she was in love with him. Elena was different. In the end, she was truthful about her feelings. She really cared about him.

Now, it was time for him to let go of any romantic feelings he had for Elena. She'd be immortal like him, but, with Stefan as her eternal partner. He accepted that.

He' d shut off his humanity for the next 25-30 years. Even though, it'd come back to kick him in the butt at his 200th year mark of being a vampire. At least that's what Rose had told him.

"He's afraid of me...isn't he?" she whispered.

Damon came back to reality "Well, you did try to take a bite out of him!" he chuckled.

Elena glared at him as she responded sarcastically "thanks!" She pushed herself off the bed and stormed over to her window seat. She pulled her knees up to her chest hugging them. "I didn't want any of this...I don't want this..." she pouted staring out into the night.

Caroline had been sitting in the chair at the foot of Matt's bed for a few hours now. She watched as his chest moved up and down. Meredith told her, that without Matt knowing, she had injected a sedative into his I.V. so he could rest, because he was so agitated. He was going to make it. Meredith had told her she'd release him later that morning if she wanted to stay & wait for him. Caroline had agreed to it & Meredith continued on with her other rounds. Caroline looked back at Matt & thought about Tyler. These two incredible guys, the two loves of her life, and tears formed in eyes. She had lost Tyler & almost Matt in the same night. She didn't think she would have been able to handle two losses. She had promised Tyler she would tell his mom that he had gotten away like planned. But how would she explain about her not being with Tyler on the run? She would have to make up a believable excuse. Mrs. Lockwood knew how in love they were & would not understand this separation. Caroline knew she wouldn't be able to stay in Mystic Falls now that the council was aware of the secret her mother had kept under wraps. Matt stirred in the bed his eyes fluttered open and Caroline could see the depth of his blue orbs.

"Hey Care" he said groggily. He breathed deeply. He looked around, "You are here to break me out, right?" Caroline got up & proceeded to help Matt take off all the tubes. She told him to hang on to her as she super-sped them out of the hospital, before anyone had time to come look for Matt when all the alarms for his vitals went off.

Jeremy arrived at Bonnie's house. Before he could even start telling her about Elena, she told him she was searching for a spell to reverse Elena's transition.

"You knew about this?" he looked down at the ground & shook his head.

"Stefan called me from the hospital ." She looked up at him, as he scowled to her response. " You didn't know till just now?" she said guiltily.

"No, I knew, " sighing before continuing. "Stefan gave me the heads up before they got to the house. But it wasn't till Damon gave me more details that I understood what happened." He focused on her face, "Bonnie,she tried to bite me!"

Bonnie's face dropped. She told him she was having a hard time finding a reversal spell for the transformation. She was going to have to tap into the dark part of witchcraft her mother had shown her. The spells in the Grimoires she possessed were very limited if at all in the area of reversal of Vampirism.

Jeremy looked at Bonnie with concern "Bonnie, aren't there risks for you and Elena? I mean, wouldn't Emily have done the same for Stefan and Damon?"

Bonnie stared into his eyes and snorted slightly "of course there are risks..." "but that's for inexperienced witches!" "I, now have more powers. And more knowledge than Emily ever had!" She looked at Jeremy with a sly look. " I no longer need any advise or help from the 100 witches!" I can find answers on my own!" A wicked smile spread across her face and her eyes became hooded.

"Stefan" Damon motioned with his head to step out of Elena's room to talk.

They walked downstairs & Damon started. "Look, clearly she doesn't want this, and you know what that means! She'll have the same outcome as Bill Forbes! Are we gonna just let her die?" his eyes searched Stefan's for a response.

"It's her choice, Damon." Stefan responded with defeat.

"Really?Really? We're just gonna let her die? Damon hissed as his eyes shot death rays at his brother.

"It's the only thing we can do, let her make her choice."Stefan whispered.

"Is that what you think?" Damon pressed on.

Yeah...it's all we can do for now, Damon."

"No it's not," Damon paced back & forth "look, she needs to know she'll need to protect her brother & Matt. We don't know what effect Jeremy's ring is gonna have. If it's anything like Ric's, he won't be able to keep the ring on anymore. That's his only protection from the Originals and any other supernatural entities. Basically, she's gotta know they're two vulnerable humans. Besides, it's not like she's not Elena, she's just immortal now." he said with a slight smirk.

Damon looked at his brother and gave a semi-smile. "So, baby bro, it's up to you, ! You've gotta convince her!" Damon bore into Stefan's eyes "I'm counting on you."

Stefan nodded in agreement. "And meanwhile, what are you gonna do?

"Oh, I have my own little agenda." He smirked.

Stefan looked at him with a questioning frown.

"Ok," he said with a huff, "I'm going to pay a visit on Ms. Witchie-poo. Maybe she can conjur up a reversal spell." he rolled his eyes.

"You sure that's a good idea? I mean you're not exactly on Bonnie's good side." Stefan warned Damon.

"What? She still pissed off I turned her mom? She reunited with the woman all of what? 2 days? Only option at the time, she didn't lose Elena or mommie dearest!"

" I don't know, Damon, I don't think you should be the one to talk to her...just saying." he responded shaking his head.

"Hey, if she finds a spell, she can reverse mommy's curse too!" "It's a win-win!" "Keys little bro? Stefan pulled out the car keys & handed them to Damon. "Now, go convince her!" his eyebrows pointed towards Elena's room, his voice echoing as he descended down the stairs and out the door.

Stefan went back up to Elena. She was now sitting on the floor next to the bed. The bedcover folded over revealing the underside of her bed. There were opened boxes next to her. She had papers, pictures, ticket stubs, dried flowers and numerous trinkets & momentos scattered around her. She looked up when he came in.

"These are the last pieces of my normalcy!" she exclaimed. Stefan frowned as he sat next to her. He picked up a picture of her taken between Matt, Bonnie & Caroline. They were all smiles, the day was bright and normal when they took that picture. Stefan found another picture, it was of an older couple, sitting in front of a porch, with a golden retriever laying at their feet. "My grandparents." she said somberly. "I'll never be that...I'll never experience the joy of being a parent..."her voice faded. She looked away and a tear formed in the corner of her eye. Stefan reached for her shoulders, but she pulled away. Getting up quickly she went into the bathroom and retrieved her garbage can. She grabbed all the items strewn on the floor & began dumping them in.

Stefan, grabbed her & shook her "Stop it, Elena!" till she looked at him. "Yes, you'll never have kids, yes, you will see everyone around you that's mortal, die! But Elena, you can also live a life to your liking, you can protect all those you love, Jeremy, Matt."

She looked up at him "Are you living life to your liking Stefan?"

"Elena, you know I've had very dark periods in my life, but I've had some good ones too, including the first day of school, when I was finally able to talk to you!"

She snapped back at him "Yeah, good ones that haven't lasted very long! The past 2 years, all we've been doing is either trying to get me away from someone who wants to use me or kill me. And if not me, we're protecting my family and friends from anyone that wants to do them harm because of me!

The voice of reason came out of Stefan "Elena, Klaus won't be after you anymore, he's lost his doppelganger, his only source for his hybrids" his eyes brightened "and you won't be as vulnerable as before, granted you'll still not be stronger than most of us, but you will be able to protect yourself, Jeremy & Matt." He kissed her forehead "And you'll be with me, forever..."

She looked at him and smiled, but the smile quickly became a frown. "Stefan," she looked down & bit her lip "I've been getting bits & pieces of these memories.." She looked back up at him.

"You mentioned that earlier, what kind of memories?" he asked.

She stepped away from him & walked over to the window-seat. Looking out into the night she responded "They're of Damon..."

Matt & Caroline arrived at the High School. No one would think of looking for either of them there. It was dark, only the flood lights of the football field illuminated the back side of the school. Caroline shut off the engine, and took a deep breath.

"Care, why are we here? Why didn't we go to your place or mine?"

"I just jail broke you out from the hospital. The council & law enforcement is out looking for me and...Tyler" she said his name softly, her heart breaking again.

"Care, I'm so sorry..."he said as he pulled her to him. She began to sob, she could no longer contain all the sorrow she was feeling.

"He's dead, Matt..and tonight, when you were at the hospital, I realized I could have lost you too!" she sobbed uncontrollably. Matt hugged her tighter, stroking her blond hair. He still loved her in a way. And he had understood why she chose Tyler over him. He just wanted her happiness.

Caroline's phone buzzed and she pulled away from him, wiping the tears and grabbed it. Looking at the cell phones face, she saw it was Stefan.

"Stefan? How's Elena? I have Matt with me. Meredith said you & Damon had already taken Elena home.

There was a brief silence, "No Caroline, it's me, Elena" her voice cracked.

"Oh good, Stefan's still with you. Are you alright?" she probed.

"Caroline, please come to my house, please." she implored.

Stefan grabbed the phone "Caroline?"

"Stefan, what's wrong with Elena?"

she questioned with dread.

Stefan responded "It's just easier if you come over."

Caroline hung up and looked at Matt, "something's up Matt." "Do you remember anything that happened?"

Matt scrunched his eyebrows, "I remember us driving back to Stefan, Elena yelled at me to look out, I saw Rebekah standing in middle of the road, so I swerved the truck. Next thing we're flipping over the guardrail, off Wickery bridge and into the water. I remember Stefan doing CPR on me. Everything's pretty foggy. I finally woke up in the hospital room."

Carolines eyes stared onto the road as she drove towards Elena's house. Under her breath she said "something's wrong with Elena."

Damon arrived to the front of Bonnies house & knocked. Bonnie opened the front door & scowled as soon as she saw him. She stared at him an immediately started her torturous migraines on Damon. He fell to his knees grabbing his head & yelling "Bonnie, noooooo!"

She kept repeating the spell over & over. And just as quickly as she had started the torture, she stopped.

Damon panted & composed himself. "What was that for?"

She responded with hate in her eyes, "For turning Elena!"

He glared at her, "I didn't turn anyone!" "Dr. Psycho blood jacked me a few weeks ago." He rubbed his temples and continued, "Apparently, she's been using my blood to cure the incurable & making a little name for herself at the hospital."

Bonnie accusingly blurted "And you let her?"

"No," he scowled, "I didn't even know how much she took, let alone that she was using it for her own selfish reasons!"

"Fine," she crossed her arms, "what is it you want Damon?'

Damon looked down at her with a hooded eyes, "the same thing you want." Bonnie looked at him quizzically. "To reverse Elena's transformation before the 24 hours are up."

Bonnie grunted, "and why would you, of all people want that? I could believe this from Stefan, but you?" she scoffed at him.

Damon lowered his eyes, "Seriously Bonnie, I only want what Elena wants, her happiness."

"Are you kidding me? After all you've done to get her confused about her feelings for you and Stefan? "You wouldn't want her at your side for eternity?"

Damon's eyes became small as he peered at her, "That's not my intention, Bonnie" "I only want what she wants to be, to be human." As he started to walk away from her house, he looked back and said "wasn't my doing...her feelings for me. I didn't compel Elena. The feelings have always been mutual, Bonnie."

Bonnie backed off her accusations and watched Damon walk away. He was right. He hadn't compelled Elena to have feelings for him. She and Caroline had noticed the change in Elena as she had gotten closer to Damon these past months. Elena was a different girl, it was obvious whenever she was around him. Damon brought something out in her, but it seemed like he'd done that since the beginning...

Damon drove straight over to the cemetery. He found a couple of grounds keepers still there. He went up to them and compelled them to do the burial. He watched as they then proceeded digging and preparing burial site by excavating the area with the aid of shovels, picks, and wheelbarrows. The older caretaker took him into the office to pick out a casket for Alaric. He chose the hardwood casket, because it was "dignified, stately look, reflective of the workmanship that went into it" as the caretaker quoted from one of the brochures. Plus, it was the most expensive type of casket. He went to the Camaro and took Ric's body out, carrying him into the caretaker's office. He gently placed him into the casket, looking one last time at his best friends ashen face. He quickly closed the casket and wiped the single tear that rose out of his eye. The men came in and took the casket. Outside they had set up the hydraulic lift to assist them in lowering the casket in. They proceeded to do so with the caretaker taking the lead. Once this was completed the caretaker added markers to the grave.

Damon and the caretaker went back into the office to order a headstone for the grave. It would read Alaric Saltzman "A Teacher and Friend has Gone Huntin' "

He left to go back to Elena's.

Stefan watched Elena who was back to sitting on the window seat. She was pensive, rubbing her hands on her pant legs repeatedly. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rocked herself.

Stefan walked over to her, placing his hand lightly on her shoulder. He gently probed "So, now do you want to tell me about those memories coming back to you?"

Elena voice was a little shaky "Stefan, the memories that are coming are in bits & pieces," she breathed in deeply, looking up at him "they're not complete & I feel there are more."

"You said they had to do with Damon," he blurted uncomfortably "what did you see in the memories?"

"Stefan, I don't want to talk about it now, ok?" she looked away from him, holding her knees tighter.

Stefan walked towards her door, "you want some tea or something?"

"Yeah, that would be nice." She turned to look at him as he exited her room.

Suddenly, she felt like she was having an out of body experience...

(Elena gets a complete memory)

She had gone to the bonfire that night with Matt. She was suppose to have stayed home for family night, especially since Jenna was visiting. But after talking to her mom and Bonnie about her feelings about Matt, her mom encouraged her to go to the bonfire. She told her she should spend some time with Matt to help her decide if she should stay with him or let him go.

The evening had started it out fine. She & Matt were enjoying the bonfire, roasting marshmallows, looking at some of their schoolmates making fools of themselves, either because of drinking too much or from their wild antics. They were having a lot of fun, when Matt started talking again about their future life together. He had their lives mapped out from when they'd be getting married, purchasing their first house purchase, to how many kids, dogs & cats they were gonna have. Elena had told him she wanted to go to college, travel, live a little while she was still young. This had angered Matt to the core. She told Matt they needed some time apart. He wanted to take her home, but she had told him not to worry, she'd call her folks to come pick her up. She really needed some space right now.

She needed to get away from the bonfire, to clear her head, but wanted to let Bonnie know she was leaving because of what happened with Matt.

"I know Bonnie, your right," her voice cracked a little, "you & my mom both are, I just can't bring myself to tell him, at least not tonight. I'll call ya later"

She was gazing down at her cell phone in deep thought when she heard a man's voice.

"Katherine," the stranger said softly.

She looked up startled as she laid eyes on him. "No...um, I..." looking behind her, thinking the stranger was talking to someone else, "I'm Elena" she responded.

He looked at her in awe, "Oh, you..." he frowned & shook his head lightly, "you just look...I'm sorry, you just"

She stared at the stranger as he walked closer to her. He was gorgeous, with big beautiful blue eyes that seemed to seer through her soul. He continued saying "you just really remind me of someone." He quickly introduced himself "I'm Damon."

She felt herself blush as he looked at her, but composed herself responding to him as her face frowned "Not to be rude or anything Damon, but it's kinda creepy that you're out here in the middle of nowhere. "

He smiled and replied "You're one to talk.." she caught his smirk, "you're out here by yourself."

She responded non-chalantly "It's Mystic Falls, nothing bad ever happens here."

He nodded, seeming to accept her explanation. Nervously, she showed him her cell phone & blurted "Got into a fight with my boyfriend." She didn't even know why she thought she owed this stranger an explanation.

"About what?" he asked, then quickly lifting his hands apologetically, "may I ask?"

She shook her head & devulged "life, future, he's got it all mapped out."

Damon frowned, "you don't want it?"

She replied " I don't know what I want."

He assured her, "That's not true! You want what everyone wants."

She felt her flirty smile come out "What? Mysterious stranger who has all the answers?"

He smiled at her, "Hmmm" then smirking, he looked away briefly, then back. "Let's just say I've been around a long time, I've learned a few things." he continued speaking with a mischievous grin.

She kept smiling "So Damon," feeling a tingle in all her being, "tell me, what is it that I want?" there was excitement as she looked at his mesmerizing eyes.

He walked closer to her, his blue eyes burning into brown ones. He declared "You want a love that consumes you, you want passion," all the while she smiled at him. She didn't fear him, didn't back away as he closed in on her. He continued, "adventure and a little danger" he smiled at her & she felt her heart beat faster.

They looked at each other & with a grin she asked ""So what do you want? He stood their speechless. She kept looking at him the moment being interrupted by the honking of an approaching car. She turned towards the sound, "It's my parents". She turned back to face him, noticing he was now in her personal space, she did not back away.

She was mesmerized by his piercing eyes, as he said "I want you to get everything you're looking for, but right now, I want you to forget that this happened. Can't have people knowing I'm in town yet" he smiled at her. "Goodnight, Elena." he said softly and then he was gone.

Elena's heart fluttered. It was Damon, she had met first.


End file.
